


IronPanther Soulmates

by Oky_Verlo



Series: IronPanther [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: ...Soulmates, All The Tropes Actually, Don't copy to another site, If Not This Is About Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate Tropes Really, did I mention soulmates?, like so many, soulmate tropes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:27:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23577640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oky_Verlo/pseuds/Oky_Verlo
Summary: Every Single Soulmate Trope That Catches My Attention.
Relationships: Tony Stark/T'Challa
Series: IronPanther [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/659420
Comments: 86
Kudos: 465





	1. First Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still my top ship.  
> I have finished my prompt collection, but I am not done with this ship by far.  
> Tony calls T'Challa cat in Italian.
> 
> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

Most people only have generic lines upon their skin, so common and banal, they can easily miss meeting the other half to their soul.

_'Excuse me.'_

_'Good day.'_

_'Welcome.'_

Some have cute little lines that are tattooed words on their wrists, not everyday things, but certainly not outside the norm, and a better indication of meeting that special someone.

_'What on Earth is with the weather today?'_

_'Crap, you miss the train too?'_

_Excuse me, I think you dropped this.'_

Some have very directed words curling on their arms, making it pretty clear who their are meeting.

_'Your pardon, but you have such gorgeous hair.'_

_'I really like your dress, if you don't mind me saying.'_

_'You look way too classy for a place like this.'_

And there are some which are so unique, that there can never be a moments doubt.

**_'If it's all the same to you Stark, I vote murder. Murder seems like the best choice here.'_ **

Tony can't help the slow drag of his eyes on the other mans body, lingering on a few choice places where the black suit is perfectly tailored, before finally turning to the raving madmen that have broke into the Accords meeting that has lasted four hours longer than it was supposed to and had only just started wrapping up.

Trying not to think about T'Challa's response to his own words a few moments prior, and the conversation they will be having later.

**_'You know il gatto, I was just deciding how far I was willing to go to get out of here, either throwing a few punches or just straight up murdering someone, and then this happens.'_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	2. Same Tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

An interesting image, that was certainly true, and both had wondered for years what the components were, which bit meant whom.

Four jagged streaks tearing through a blue segmented circle.

Tony realised it was an arc reactor, not long after he had put one in his chest.

T'Challa identified the claw marks, after first training with ones made from vibranium.

_'Will you tear up my heart?'_

**'Will you survive my nature?'**

**_'Will we be each others end?'_ **

Then they meet.

Then they kiss.

**_'Will I be able to survive without you?'_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	3. Heterochromia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

Amber and Chocolate.

Gold and Earth.

Whiskey and Coffee.

When a squalling child is brought into the world, they are born with mismatched eyes.

One is their natural colour, the other that of their soul mate.

And only once they have shared a kiss with their soul mate will this mismatch correct itself, returning the colours to their owner.

When Howard was told his son was safely born, he raised a glass to his lips, smiled at the thought that he had a heir, and then boarded a ship headed far, far North, thinking nothing on Anthony nor what the future held for his child.

When T'Chaka held his son for the first time, his mind dashed to the young American child constantly strewn across the world's media, the boy with eyes that mirrored the newborn T'Challa, and couldn't help but pray that the future held kindness for his child.

T'Challa grew up knowing who his soul mate was, working hard to at least be able to one day meet.

Tony grew up believing the voices constantly claiming he would be forever alone and unwanted.

They meet as adults, in circumstances none should ever dream for, in tragedies that all would wish never occur.

They finally speak as the dust settles and wounds try to mend.

They finally touch when tears are allowed to fall and cries to rend the silence.

They finally kiss when compromises are made and rules are set.

Their eyes no longer match.

Instead, their hearts do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	4. Red String

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

It coils so nicely around his pinky; the dark red so nice against his caramel skin, and trailing off into the distance, the string loose, able to flutter in winds that were not there, yet suspended, never touching the ground, telling him his soul mate was a long way away.

 _'One day,'_ he promised himself as harsh fists and alcohol breath once more force him to the ground, _'One day I'll be free to follow.'_

* * *

_Loops cling so delicately to his pinky; the red contrasting to his dark skin so vibrantly, before being pulled away, tempting him to follow, to just start walking until he reaches the end, his soul mate on the other side of the thread only he can see._

'One day,' _he promised himself as the responsibilities of his station once more drag him away from following,_ 'One day I'll find you.'

* * *

Sometimes he winds the string around his fingers, pulls gently and makes cat's cradles and bridges and towers, and thinks he feels warmth and love.

_'One day. One day.'_

* * *

_Sometimes he slides the thread through his hands, marvelling the feel of silk, the almost water trickling on his skin, and thinks he feels warmth and love._

'One day. One day.'

* * *

He gathers as much as he dares when the days hurt the most.

He tries to gather as much warmth and love as he can.

_'One day. One day.'_

* * *

_He holds it close to his heart when he is most lonely._

_He wants to remember that there is still warmth and love._

'One day. One day.'

* * *

He hurts every where. His heart is forever kissed by metal. His life's work is being held not by those it was meant for.

When he dares close his eyes, his fingers twine through the fading red string.

_'One day. I hope, one day.'_

* * *

_He feels empty. His heart hurts like he has been stabbed. He cannot focus on his duties and responsibilities._

_When he dares look, his hand trembles as it curls around the fraying red thread._

'One day. I hope, one day.'

* * *

The string is still faded when he gets home.

When he makes the armour.

When he flies.

When he falls.

When he fights.

When he survives.

When no matter what happens, he keeps getting back up.

The string is barely red.

_'One day. Please, one day.'_

* * *

_The thread is forever frayed when his emptiness fades._

_When he resumes his duties._

_When he begins training._

_When he falters._

_When he struggles._

_When he strives._

_When no matter what happens, he keeps getting back up._

_The thread is barely connected._

'One day. Please, one day.'

* * *

**Years pass and the words do not change, the wish never alters.**

**'One day. Just one day.'**

* * *

"Mr Stark."

"Your Highness."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	5. SoulTsums

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

Tony didn't know what, exactly, the beings were. No one did really.

The Tsums were just with you from birth.

Tiny and blank until, one day, a cocoon would form around them for some length of time, and the Tsum would finally emerge with the colours of the person best suited to you.

Well apparently anyway.

Tony's Tsum had been blank for almost ten years before cocooning nirself, and hadn't emerged until Tony was twenty-eight.

And honestly, Tony wasn't sure what the think of the black and silver Tsum with cat ears that came out purring.

* * *

Challa was finally awake! Nir was so happy, and to finally see Tony instead of just hearing his voice had Challa purring so much!

Challa just couldn't wait to find nir and Tony's mates!

* * *

_T'Challa, like many children had waited delightedly for the day his Tsum would cocoon, waited excitedly for the day nir colours would come in and help him find his soul mate._

_Nir waited until T'Challa was sixteen and had started training to be the next Black Panther, before forming the protective cocoon._

_He was a little concerned that a decade passed before his Tsum emerged, but the gorgeous red and gold of the Tsum eased those worries, and T'Challa's face lit up when nir suddenly lifted from the remains of the cocoon in flight._

_How simply wondrous._

* * *

**Tonee ran before nir could walk! Or, flew, rather. Either way, Tonee was ahead of the curve and planned to stay there!**

**T'Challa had taken such good care of Tonee, so Tonee had to work hard to find nir and T'Challa's mates!**

* * *

"I am Iron Man."

* * *

_T'Challa came running at Tonee's squeal, his heart leaping to his throat at what could possibly be distressing his Tsum._

_Instead of upset however, T'Challa found his Tsum wriggling in happiness at the television, playing some American news program._

_It was of Anthony Stark, having apparently done something amazing again, though honestly, when was the man not doing so?_

_If T'Challa had any wish aside from meeting his soul mate, it would be to meet Stark and..._

_T'Challa's eyes caught on the little black Tsum resting on Stark's shoulder._

_The little black Tsum with cat ears._

* * *

Tony felt more than heard the distressed little purrs from his inner jacket pocket as he sped through the abandoned bunker.

Little Challa had been purring as hard as nir could ever since the news of King T'Chaka's death had reached them.

The dots weren't hard to connect, especially once the Prince T'Challa rocked up in the cat onesie with a little red and gold Tsum flying alongside.

A nation with the ability to create that sort of technology would have no problems setting up a meeting with him.

Just another person who didn't want him.

Tony opened the final door between him and two super soldiers.

* * *

** What's happening? **

** Why does everything hurt? **

** Make it stop. Please, make it stop. **

Tony **T'Challa it hurts.**

** Please, make it stop. **

** Help. **

** Please. **

** Somebody help. **

* * *

Tony ran trembling fingers over Challa's shaking body.

Both were in such agony; Tony from his broken body, Challa from nir's broken heart.

There is little worse for a Tsum then being unable to help their carer.

And poor Challa could do nothing against defensive super soldiers.

A heartbreakingly weak purr started as Tony's fingers made another pass.

Challa trying, so desperately to calm both Tony and nirself.

"I have a little fellow here who would dearly love to help nem out."

Jolting slightly, Tony and Challa turn to look at the intruder.

In the door stood T'Challa, gently carrying a whimpering red and gold Tsum.

Silence passed between the two men, weak purrs and pitiful whimpers between Tsums.

With no objection voiced, Tonee was released, and nir flew straight to the Tsum in Tony's lap, chirping and squeaking in apparent comfort.

The warm hand that came to rest on Tony's shoulder was a comfort all its own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	6. Marks On The Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

The heaving body resting against his own was the only thing keeping T'Challa from keeling over into the dirt.

The battle had been long and hard, but finally the alien army was forced to retreat and everyone took a few moments to just breathe.

Tony had been forced out of the armour to work on the device that allowed the aliens to teleport in and cause havoc before vanishing before the Avengers could retaliate, and had succeeded in shutting it down, despite the aliens immediately gunning from him when they realised what he was doing.

T'Challa could feel the bruising formed on Tony's beautiful skin, the hundreds of marks that now decorated T'Challa's own in sympathetic pain.

No one had ever been able to adequately explain why soulmates would share the marks of their injuries and pain, nor had there been any to explain why a select few pairings were also able to share the pain itself.

T'Challa had from the moment of his birth been constantly covered in bruises and beatings, his body ever aching and weary.

And he only felt a fraction of what Tony went through.

It broke T'Challa's heart every time he thought of how much the world seemed to hate his soulmate.

"Hey Great Catsby, we won. We got the aliens to leave. So stop frowning at what they managed, and help me hobble over to the quinjet so we can finish up here and go home, okay?"

T'Challa's eyes met Tony's warm grin and tired gaze, and couldn't help a smile of his own.

Yes, there was great pain between them.

But there was great bliss as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	7. Timers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Brace yourselves >=3
> 
> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

**_Endlessly ticking, the clocks count down,_ **

**_Until your other half is found._ **

**_They tell you the minute, the hour, the day,_ **

**_Until your soulmate comes your way._ **

**_Everyone has one, have no doubt,_ **

**_Just wait until the clocks run out._ **

**_And when you do, your arm turns bare,_ **

**_And then your soulmate is always there._ **

* * *

Tony sighed softly as he rose his glass to his lips, sipping his drink as he watched the party going on below his place on the balcony.

Really, he should be down there, partaking in the revelry of ringing in the New Year, but he had some time before the ball began to drop, and had chosen to step back for a bit, to breathe outside the insane cluster that was an Avengers shindig.

To be away from the pitying gazes of his friends now that it had come out that he had no timer.

A slightly larger sip of his drink, as he was once more reminded that he was, in the eyes of the world, destined to be alone.

Well, the world wasn't half wrong.

Tony had no timer.

But at one point he had had a soulmate.

He can still remember watching the seconds clicking away on his arm when he was safely hidden in his room, away from paparazzi vultures and gold-digging socialites.

He had woken up in the hospital after a kidnapping when he was thirteen to find his timer gone, and no soulmate at his side.

"Tony? Come, the countdown is set to begin, and the Captain will no doubt kick a fuss if we are absent."

Tony smiled helplessly at the Wakandan King, finishing his drink before joining T'Challa and heading downstairs.

He may not have a soulmate at his side, but frankly, Tony decided that T'Challa was better anyway.

* * *

_"Oh, Prince T'Challa! You are not to wander off by yourself; this is not the palace! Come now, leave the white boy's room, we should not be here."_

_"He hurt."_

_"Yes my Prince, he is hurt, but that is why he is in a hospital; to get better. Come on, we are returning home soon, so we need to leave. Do not disturb the boy."_

_It was not until they had returned to their hidden Kingdom that it was discovered that Prince T'Challa's timer had vanished._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	8. Lock & Key

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

It was a delicately intricate thing, the lock twisting in beautiful curls and whorls over his heart.

Red patterned gold that shone and glimmered against his skin, tiny lines of almost glowing blue flashing through the edges and gaps.

T'Challa adored his heart lock, and he found himself constantly in anticipation and delight at the thought of the one who would carry the key to unlock it.

* * *

_The near matte black of the design was striking paired with the metallic silver that decorated the key tattooed across the back of his hand._

_Even with the matte-like presentation, no doubt the whole thing would feel like polished steel were it to be physically held._

_Tony enjoyed staring at his heart key, ever wondering who it would be, the soul whose heart he would unlock._

* * *

The keyhole was unique, shaped like a heart, a stark void amidst the intense colours.

T'Challa couldn't help but long for his match.

* * *

_It was a little hard to tell, but the teeth of his key seemed almost to come to a point, and the head appeared unusually curved._

_Tony wanted greatly to find his pair._

* * *

**A single touch.**

**A hand on the chest to hold the other back.**

**An intense warmth like neither had ever had the utter privilege to experience.**

**A devastating chill that neither had ever felt strike them to their bones.**

**And a super soldier on the loose ensuring that neither had the time to discuss.**

* * *

"I need you."

* * *

_"I need you too."_

* * *

**Unlocked.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	9. Ageless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

It had been Rhodey who had suggested it.

After finally seeing Tony again after nearly a full years deployment, Rhodey had come back to the states to spend some time with Tony and had faltered at seeing his adopted little brother looking far, _far_ younger than he should.

"It'd take some time, but I think you could pull off a beard."

And indeed Tony could, the facial hair easily disguising his non-aging features.

He didn't want to be hounded for his 'beauty routine', or his 'plastic surgeries' or anything else he had to be doing to 'stay so young and fit' if you were listening to the media.

Because there was absolutely no way Tony Stark had a soulmate.

The very idea that Tony Stark wasn't aging past eighteen because his body was waiting for his soulmate to catch up was utter absurdity.

But Tony laughed a lot. Which led to lines and wrinkles.

Tony got careless or reckless. Ending up with bumps and bruises and marring.

Tony maintained a stylish beard. Adding sophistication that a child could not have.

Tony didn't even notice when ten years had passed and his pause ended.

In fact, he only noticed nearly thirty years after he first stopped.

* * *

T'Challa sped to the source of the surprised shout, joining the other Avengers already gathering.

His Precious Tony was staring into one of the gyms wall mirrors is bafflement, James alongside him.

Tony was clean shaven.

"Shit Stark, you look stupidly young but you are really over-reacting. I wouldn't have snuck shaved your face if I knew you were going to freak out over it."

James turned to face the archer, and scowl furrowing his brow.

"We're both freaking because Tony's aged; it means he and his soul mate are the same biological age. And we don't know when that happened."

The two ignore the dismissive scoffs the Avengers let out upon the claim of a soulmate, instead leaving the gym to head to the med bays, hoping to find out where Tony's body currently sits, and therefore when it restarted.

T'Challa ignores the slight ache in his chest at the thought of another taking his Precious Tony.

Even though there is nothing between them except T'Challa's wishes.

* * *

"Okay, so my body is about thirty-six?"

That's how it's reading."

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face, discomforted by the lack of familiar stubble.

So his soulmate was a decade younger than him. Not too grand an age difference, but certainly explained the aging freeze he went through.

A second scrub of his face.

And just how many thirty-six year olds were there in the world?

How could he possibly find his soulmate with that as his only data point?

Hell, how could he have found his soulmate anyway?

It's not like there was a flashing light or sudden music or flocks of birds coming to hover over the person you were linked to.

You just stopped ageing until you matched and then felt comfortable in their presence.

Tony only had a few very, very special people he felt comfortable in the presence of, and all had summarily proven that they weren't Tony's match.

Jeez, the whole thing was sudden, so very unexpected, and Tony could feel the stress and tension tightening down his spine.

Tony could really use one of T'Challa's hugs right now; David Meowie really gave some good hugs and-

Tony's eyes widened.

* * *

Across the compound, T'Challa felt a shiver crawl deliciously down his spine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


	10. Past Lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy, healthy, hopeful 2021.
> 
> T'Challa calls Tony Darling according to Google Translate.
> 
> Come be friendly? [OkyVerlo.](https://okyverlo.tumblr.com/)

_They are running, the earth and grass blurring as they pass by, dust rising in their wake as they speed on._

_The air is hot, is thick, yet manages to taste sweet in the back of their throats as they land together, claws digging deep into their prey._

_They feast upon their hard-earned victory._

_They survive._

* * *

**They dance, they soar, the clouds and wind swirling by them as they link and release, as they fall and rise.**

**Talons locked, they plummet together, the earth swiftly coming to claim them, denizens of its rule or not.**

**They unlatch and ascend unscathed to the heights once more.**

**They survive.**

* * *

They float upon the currents, pulled and pushed wherever the water deems to go, looping about each other in jest and game.

They twist and swerve to avoid the riptide, diving deeper into the depths and brushing each others tails.

They luxuriate in the cool warmth of the waters always surrounding them.

They survive.

* * *

~~They hurt, they hurt, their screams torn from them just as their feathers, their tails, their wings, endlessly torn away for their beauty and power.~~

~~They burn, over and over, constantly beginning anew as they are held so close yet can never touch, every rebirth an agony.~~

~~They are kept together so they remain hoping to escape, so they'll keep burning, but nothing, not even hope, is endless.~~

~~They do not survive.~~

* * *

Tony jolts upright, breathing desperately as he feels the final lingering flames of a fire he has never experienced.

Even as he feels that heat, he is so cold, the cold of air rushing past you as you fall, a feeling he knows all too well, shivering as he tries to catch his breath.

"Siyathandwa?"

T'Challa sleepily nuzzles closer, dreams of the Savanna and the ocean resting behind half closed eyes, not fully awake, but reacting to Tony's own distress.

"I'm okay Whiskers, just ..."

Just what?

How exactly could he convey what he felt in that dream, what he went through, T'Challa at his side for every moment, good and bad?

"Just the past trying to catch up with me."

He can't.

So he lets T'Challa pull him closer, wrapping around him like the human cat he claims not to be.

Lets T'Challa's drowsy hums draw him back into sleep as memories of lives long lived and died fade away once more.

We _are_ **never** meant ~~to~~ remember _the_ **before** after ~~all~~.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toodles and Love  
> Oky Verlo


End file.
